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War Against Software Piracy

The Pilipinas Anti-Piracy Team (PAPT) pursues all-out war against all forms of software piracy, SunStar Cebu (online) reports today. PAPT is a government-led initiative composed of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Optical Media Board (OMB) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

According to the report, PAPT:

has already conducted 12 successful enforcement operations against different forms of business establishments including corporations, Internet cafes and stores using and selling pirated and unlicensed copies of business software. These enforcement operations have resulted in the seizure of 206 computers loaded with unlicensed copies of software, 22 pirated installers and 15 sacks of pirated CDs of software amounting to P14.3 million.

“We urge all businesses to be more conscientious in their use of software to spare them from the adverse consequences of being caught of committing the illegal act of software piracy,” said Elfren Meneses Jr., head of the NBI’s Intellectual Property Rights Division (IPRD), as quoted in Sun Star report.

This manifests that the government is serious in fighting against software piracy. Software piracy is prevalent in the country and many are not even aware of its ill effects.

To help businesses understand the legal implications of software piracy, the PAPT has sent out letters to 20,000 corporations nationwide reminding them to ensure that they are in compliance with the country’s IPR laws so as not to risk suffering the legal consequences of being found violating these laws.

Software piracy is a violation of the Intellectual Property (IP) Code of the Philippines. This is punishable by up to nine years imprisonment and a fine of up to P1.5 million

2 thoughts on “War Against Software Piracy”

I am an educator for almost 14 years by now. Ive been teaching in the field of Computers. In my honest opinion, you should consider also looking into the educational system. The piracy thing is also embedded inside.

For example.

My child (12 years old) was supposed to study Microsoft Office applications in their school. Its part of the curriculum. He asked me if we can run the Microsoft Office in our computer. I said no it is not possible because we are using an Open Source platform. But I told my son that we don’t have money to buy the license. Microsoft Office license will cost you around 20,000. We don’t have that.

But since we don’t have choice, we have to resort to installing pirated softwares and let my son learn the software….

What do we have here;
The students are now forced to buy pirated softwares, indirectly teaching our kids to learn piracy is OK? Dammm schools.

The students became experts in the software, and the school never even bothered to check if the students are using Original softwares. And teachers also is part of it. They gave pirated copies to kids. They even give a good grade for the assignment using a pirated software?

What’s the point?
There will be no end to piracy. It is being Taught to our Kids.
We are generating generations and generations of pirates.
Imagine the whole country teaching piracy to kids.